HORSES

FARM BLEAT Oh give me a home, where the Banker horses roam
After traveling more than 1,540 miles over the course of three days, my folks and I were thrilled to be settling in for four nights at a motel right on the beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Since we ar...Posted on 10/27/12 at 10:25 PM

STAFF BLOG AG RIGHT Horse owners, take note
The South Dakota State University Extension Service reports that blister beetles have been found in alfalfa fields in the western part of the state. The bugs are particularly interesting in that they ...Posted on 5/30/12 at 9:06 AM

AMY'S RANCH SLANTS Birde Lover
When I saw a bumper sticker that said, Have you hugged your kid today? I couldnt help but think thats a no-brainer but did consider whom I havent hugged lately.
After contemplating those Ive negl...Posted on 4/9/12 at 7:00 PM

Frank Kuntz awakens every morning to the reality that 280 living creatures depend upon him for food, water and protection.
It’s a responsibility at once terrifying if it went wrong, and profoundly rewarding if it went right.

TOWNER, N.D. — Growing up, most of our pastures had herds of cattle or a small band of horses on them. But one small pasture, close to home, was occupied by old steel and antique iron. It was a little boy’s imagination playland better than most manufactured specifically to amuse.

TOWNER, N.D. — After a few years of having winters we’d like to forget, this year, we’ve gotten a winter we want to remember . . . so far. On Jan. 10, I did chores wearing a vest instead of a jacket and there wasn’t a speck of snow on the ground. It was so nice, I even had my earflaps tucked up inside of my cap, and that doesn’t often happen in January in North Dakota.

RECLUSE, Wyo. — I recently was interviewed on a radio show that included the Humane Society of the United States’ Wayne Pacelle, who made remarks such as, “horse slaughter is a predatory business where killer buyers outbid people who just want to save horses,” “horse slaughter is inhumane,” “Americans don’t eat horsemeat and we shouldn’t be supplying people who do” and “all horse meat is contaminated and unfit for human consumption.”

RENO, Nev. — A federal judge in Nevada is taking the U.S. government to task for misconduct by a helicopter contractor during one of the biggest mustang roundups in the West, granting a rare emergency order sought by wild horse protection advocates who argue all of the gathers on public lands are inhumane and illegal.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Backing away from a plan to castrate wild stallions that has incensed environmental groups, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Friday announced it will instead use a birth-control drug on mares to reduce the growth of wild horse herds in southwestern Wyoming.

SALT LAKE CITY — A deadly strain of a fast-spreading horse virus that's shown up in nine Western states — where cases have doubled in the last week — has forced contestants vying for the title of “posse junior queen” in one Utah county to ride stick horses to demonstrate their cowgirl skills.

RENO, Nev. — Concerned about the threat of a catastrophic outbreak of a herpes virus among wild horse herds in the West, national animal advocates on Thursday called on the federal government to keep potentially infected domestic horses away from mustangs and burros on public lands.